NMB the country's most dangerous metro at night

BY CHARL BOSCH - APRIL 15, 2015

Nelson Mandela Bay has been rated as South Africa’s most dangerous metro to be in at night with 80.2% of residents indicating they felt unsafe when out after hours.

The findings, released by Statistics South Africa as part of its latest survey, Crime Statistics Series Volume II: Public perceptions about crime prevention and the Criminal Justice System 2010-2013/14, also placed the Eastern Cape as the third least safest province for residents walking alone at night, with 69.8% of respondents saying they felt unsafe when not accompanied. The Free State was judged to be the most dangerous (76.8%) ahead Gauteng (70.5%) with Limpopo being the least dangerous at 48.3%.

With 64.2%, burglary was judged to be the province’s most feared form of crime, followed by home robbery (55.9%) and street robbery (40.7%) with political violence being the least feared at 6.4%.

Police trust was rated as being the highest in the country during 2013/2014 with 87.2% of residents stating they had confidence in force with the next highest being Limpopo (82.9%) and the Free State (82.0%). Police trust was the lowest in Gauteng at only 67.2%.

Similarly, while police trust ranked as the best in the country (65.8%), 12.4% of residents indicated a response time less than 30 minutes from the moment a call was made.

It was also found that residents were no in favour of the rulings made by the courts during this time with 86.4% believing that individuals implicated in crimes were not sent to jail, while 74.0% felt that convicted criminals were wrongly accused.

“This study has shown that crime remains a problem, despite the efforts of the government in prioritising safety and security for its inhabitants, as clearly outlined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa,” StatsSA Statistician-General, Pali Lehohla said.

“About four in ten households in South Africa felt that both violent and property crime had increased. Even though crime statistics from the SAPS indicated a decline in the 2013/14 financial year in some categories of crime, it is still insignificant compared to the extent of crime experienced by households, especially when under-reporting rates are brought into consideration”.

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